Cory Mara will vie for county commission seat

A new candidate has come forward this morning, who says that he expects to challenge the incumbent for St Johns County Commission, District 2, in the upcoming 2014 elections.

Although the current officeholder has not officially filed for re-election, Ron Sanchez has un-officially told at least one political group that he intends to seek re-election to a third, four-year term. Three Republican candidates, including the first-term incumbent, have already officially filed to run for the District 4 county commission seat.

St Johns County resident, 39-year-old Cory Mara, who is employed as a Geographic Information Systems Technical Analyst by the US Navy Department of Defense, is the first to file for the position which opens next year.

Mara, who grew up in St Augustine, is a graduate of St Augustine High School and earned his Bachelor of Public Administration degree, with honors, from Flagler College in St Augustine.

He and his wife, Tracie Mara, have four boys who range in age from 4-months to 16-years-old; all born in Flagler Hospital. Mara told Historic City News editor, Michael Gold, this morning, “I am thankful to say that they have the opportunity to attend public schools in the St Johns County School District.”

Mara is Catholic and has been a member of the Knights of Columbus for about 15 years.

When asked why St Johns County voters should elect him, Mara said that he feels his strong technical skills, knowledge of local government’s role and responsibility to its citizens, and twelve-years of previous employment in St Johns County’s Growth Management department, make him uniquely qualified to hold the office.